


Midnight Encounter

by ThymeSprite



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Drinking & Talking, F/M, New Year's Eve, New York, One Night Stands
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-22
Updated: 2015-03-22
Packaged: 2018-03-19 02:42:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3593331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThymeSprite/pseuds/ThymeSprite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sarah is finally allowed to drink on New Year's Eve and she makes good use of it. <br/>Until she finds a stranger even more intoxicating than the heaviest of drinks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Midnight Encounter

**Author's Note:**

> This oneshot is some sort of a prequel to an Avengers-story I am planning, but I dare not say when it will be written.
> 
> Until then, please enjoy this.

New Year’s Eve 1986, an hour before midnight

“Woohoo!”, Sarah called out and winked at the bartender who refilled her glass.

“You really shouldn’t drink so much, honey.”, he told her, but Sarah merely snorted derisively, “Pah, I’m alright. See? I can even sit straight!”

“Barely so, but yeah.”, the man behind the bar answered and, with a hint of concern, pushed the bowl of peanuts to her, “At least eat something with your tequila, will ya?”

“Fine.”, Sarah whined in mock anger and rolled her eyes, but did as he had asked. Out alone for the first time at 21, finally allowed to drink, there was no reason at all to tick off the barman, no sir. So Sarah showed him her sweetest smile and downed the shot of tequila, grimacing as she did so. Well, it was better than the first few, but still…

“That shit is god-awful.”, she mumbled and the bartender chuckled, “You ordered it, babe, bottoms up.”

“Didn’t you just tell me to slow down?”, she asked, but when he put another shot in front of her, she waved it off, “Never mind.”

This time when she drank the shot, it burned like hell, but it was good.

“What’s that?”, she asked in pleasant surprise and the bartender told her, “Whiskey. But you’re not supposed to down it like that, but savour it. Slow down, okay?”

“Grandpa.”, she shot at him without force and he grinned at her, but then turned away to serve another guest.

“What brings a beautiful girl like yourself to a bar this late at night?”, someone next to her asked and Sarah blinked in disbelief before she turned around. Another one? Another totally shit-faced idiot who thought he just had to look at her to charm her panties off. If he had at least had the decency to try a little harder, she would not have rejected him, but that pick-up line was even worse than the worst tequila. So she looked him in the eye and deadpanned: “The alcohol. I assure you, it’s not the company.”

“Huh?”, he mumbled and Sarah sighed in exasperation. He was not only an idiot, he was a really dumb idiot. Wonderful.

“You. Idiot.”, she said as distinctly as she could and pointed at him, then at herself, “Me? Not interested.”

He still just stood there, looking at her dumbfounded until Sarah grabbed his shoulders and turned him to the left slightly, pointing him at a tall, blonde woman. So not what Sarah looked like, but the long, almost naked legs and the big, also almost naked boobs got his attention and he scampered off.

“I swear, if I see another idiot like that before midnight, I’m gonna go on a rampage tonight!”, she said as she waved at the bartender and received her whiskey, together with the advice, “Then better close your eyes. The bar’s full of them. And drink slowly.”

“Yeah, sure.”, Sarah said and, for once, only sipped at the liquor. Okay, it was admittedly better like that, but she would not admit that to anyone. Instead she looked around, hoping to find someone who was not yet drunk or looked as if he had already looked like an idiotic monkey before getting shit-faced. To her immense horror, the barkeep had been right, not a man in sight who did not look like a drunkard.

Sarah blew her dark bangs from her forehead when… she saw him. There, just a few feet away, a tall and dark stranger. Sure, New York was big, everyone was a stranger to everyone, but this man… he stuck out, he was different. And he knew it.

He had an air around him that just demanded attention, yet no one gave it to him, they were all too preoccupied with getting drunk. A few of the women eyed him up, one girl even walked up to him, but he did not even look at her before he dismissed her with a short reply to her invitation. A reply that had her staggering away crying. Wow.

Across the crowded room, Sarah watched him come closer and…

“Hey, did it hurt when you fell from heaven?”, a red, mottled and utterly ugly face blocked her view of the tall stranger and the man’s breath reeked with beer so bad, Sarah almost fell backwards off her barstool. He even had a full plastic cup of beer in his hand and took a big gulp, almost downing half of it with that one gulp, but that did not stop him from talking to her: “Must’ve hurt when you fell from heaven.”

Any halfway decent looking or sober guy she would have given at least some credit for having the balls of using such a stupid line on her, but that idiot had it coming.

“Well, it wasn’t such a long way for me.”, she sweetly replied and pried the beer from his hand, as if she wanted to take a sip from it. But then she purposefully dumped it onto his crotch. You just gotta love light blue jeans, she thought, when he looked as if he had pissed himself.

“Oops.”, she said, not in the least sorry and she let go of the plastic cup, letting it drop to the floor in a clutter that was drowned out by the music, “Sorry, I can be soo clumsy.”

The idiot in front of her stared at her for a few seconds, then he began to growl and huff and puff, which Sarah found almost funny, but her amusement died instantly when he balled his fists. Then she gulped.

“The lady expressed her disinterest.”, a dark, smooth voice that cut clearly through the blaring music spoke up next to her, “And quite non-ambiguously, as I might add. Leave her alone.”

“She your girl?”, the drunkard growled at the man next to them and Sarah realised with stunning surprise that it was the tall stranger she had seen before.

“That is none of your concern.”, he replied politely, “What is your concern is that she is not, as you put it, your girl. Leave her alone.”

“So you can take my place?”, the drunkard growled again, but the man eyed the drunk up and down, then said with a slight scoff, “Good gracious, no. I would not very much like to be in your place. I would, however, like you to leave. As you should have moments ago.”

The only warning they got was that the drunk idiot turned slightly to face the stranger, then his fists flew already, faster than Sarah had thought him capable of.

But the stranger was even quicker. With a step so graceful only a cat could be a match for him, the stranger stepped aside and let the drunkard stumble with the misdirected force of his own blow. The stranger only gave him one look full of disdain, then he stepped up to the bar, next to Sarah and addressed the barkeeper: “Remove this imbecile before I have to do it myself.”

“You got it, mister.”, the barkeep said and, the burly man that he was, rounded the bar and pulled the drunkard to his feet, throwing him out.

“Oh gosh.”, Sarah mumbled, her hand over her fast beating heart, “I didn’t mean to… I never…”

“It is not your fault.”, the stranger told her in a smooth, calming voice, “Drunkards like this lowlife simply do not know when to stop. Any idiot can try and speak to a beautiful woman, but it takes more than the vanity of being a man to win a lady.”

Oh no, Sarah thought, another one. She really was not that pretty, at least that was what she thought, so what was up with all the man hitting on her tonight? Were they really that desperate to get laid?

Apparently, her thoughts had been obvious to the man in front of her, because he chuckled and apologised: “Where are my manners? Here I come, trying to save you from an imbecile and then I behave like one myself, actually taking his place. Forgive me and let me start anew.”

With that, he walked around her to her other side, away from the spot in which the drunkard had stood, and held his hand out to her: “It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Loki. May I sit with you and join you for a drink?”

Involuntarily, Sarah smiled. Even if he was just another guy trying to get into her pants, at least he had style.

“I’m Sarah.”, she replied and took his hand to shake it as she added, “Please have a seat.”

She could as well just play along… But she was startled when he did not shake her hand, but instead gently pulled it closer to him and then bent low above it, touching its back just the slightest bit with his lips. A kiss on the hand? Wow… he definitely had some style.

Sarah felt herself blush a bit, which she thought she had left behind at twelve years old, but apparently not. Loki beside her ordered drinks, and as soon as the barkeep’s stand-in had brought them, they clinked glasses and he said: “To lonely nights that get infinitely better if you find a fellow mind.”

Sarah touched her glass to him and drank, but then asked curiously: “A fellow mind?”

“Yours.”, he replied with a smile, “I was watching you and I have to admit, seeing you fend off one idiot after the other was hilarious.”

“Ya think?”, Sarah snorted, “From this side, it was rather tedious.”

He chuckled at that and allowed it by inclining his head, but then he added: “I do believe it was, so let me rephrase my statement. It was a pleasure to see your creativity and the mischief with which you got rid of those idiots.”

Sarah found herself smiling and it soon turned into a bitter smile as she muttered: “Says you. Other men usually call me a bitch.”

“They are wrong.”, he growled, taking her aback, “Wrong in accusing you when the real problem is their insufficient mind. When they are the problem.”

Blinking in disbelief, Sarah eyed him up. No one, in her 21 years of life, had ever thought her direct and mischievous nature was a good thing, let alone told her, to her face. And that stranger had just waltzed in and told her over the first glass of whiskey they were drinking together.

“What kind of a name is that, anyway?”, Sarah suddenly burst out and the man next to her mused with a wry grin, “Sarah? I think to recall that it originates from a Hebrew word.”

“Not my name.”, she laughed, “Yours. Loki. Isn’t that from Norse mythology?”

“It is.”, was all he offered as an explanation, a mischievous glint in his eyes that made Sarah suspect there was more to his answer than he let on. Before she could say anything, he told her: “If I am not mistaken, then the name Sarah means princess.”

“Oh.”, she said, giggling, then theatrically leaned towards him and whispered, “Tell me more.”

“Gladly.”, he murmured back, just loud enough so she could hear it over the music, “For I am a prince, Sarah.”

The way he said her name… it made her shiver and think that he meant it as a title, as if he had called her a princess. Their gazes locked and Sarah did not know exactly what she saw in those eyes, a wild, stormy mixture of green with a hint of blue, but whatever it was, it kept her gaze glued to his and it made her heart skip a beat.

With a confident smile, Loki then offered his hand for her to take and somewhere, in the far back of her mind, Sarah thought that she should not, under any circumstances, take his hand, that it would only lead down a road she should not go.

But with a smile, she took a tight hold of his hand and he helped her to her feet, led her out of the crowded bar.

With a casual flick of his wrist, he threw some bills onto the counter for their drinks, but neither of them looked back at the barkeep.

Once they were out in the streets, Sarah took a deep breath of the icy cold night air and even though she shivered, she smiled at the man next to her and asked with a wink: “So, what now? Are you in fact a prince and will take me to your castle, make an honourable woman out of me? Or are you in fact a bandit, trying to snatch the innocent maiden away?”

Loki chuckled, but then answered: “I am no bandit, I assure you. But even if I was, you would not have any need to be afraid. For you are no innocent maiden.”

“True.”, Sarah shrugged and it earned her a smile along with the compliment, “You are plain-spoken. A rare trait nowadays.”

“True again.”, she said, “But I hate that polite bullshit. I’d take an honest insult over a made-up compliment any day.”

“Why is that?”, Loki asked her as they wandered through the streets, snow falling lightly onto them, and Sarah shrugged her shoulders to keep the cold out, but then she answered, “Because life is too short for lies. If it’s important, say it. If it ain’t, keep your mouth shut, but don’t waste my time lying.”

Abruptly, Loki stopped dead in his tracks and Sarah stared at him, for a moment afraid that he had heard something, but then she met his gaze and she almost flinched from the fire she saw in it. This fire was cold, but intense. And it fanned fire in her as well.

Loki took Sarah’s hands in his, his fingers warm despite the cold and he said, matter-of-factly: “I want you.”

She was startled into silence by that and Loki smiled as he reminded her: “Life is too short for lies, if it is important, then say it. This is important, Sarah. I want you, tonight. Will you be mine?”

She should say no, by all rights, she should tell him to leave her, that he was a pervert for even suggesting… but Sarah found her heart beating hard and fast as she managed to barely whisper a reply: “Yes.”

“Good.”, Loki purred and with one long, graceful step, he was standing right in front of her, leaning down in the same motion and he pressed his lips to hers in a kiss… Sarah could not have described even if she had been able to think at that moment. It was… breathtaking, overwhelming, too much and yet not enough. It was raw, it was pure, it was demanding… and honest.

When she broke away to breathe, she was panting heavily and mumbled in between: “My apartment isn’t far…”

“Lead the way.”, he told her, a command that barely masked the tension beneath and so Sarah hurried. She grabbed his hand and all but ran to her apartment.

When they had finally reached her door, she was fumbling with the keys, unable to unlock the door because her hands were shaking so hard. Heck, all of her was shaking.

Loki stood behind her, so close that she felt his body covering her, towering over her, and when he reached for her hand, she could not help but lean against him, even if that brought her inches away from the door. That, with an audible click and snap, opened. On its own accord.

Loki pushed her inside and kicked the door shut behind him, but Sarah heard it lock, lock itself, when Loki grabbed a hold of her shoulders and pushed her back against the door, pinning her there when he took her mouth in another raw, wet kiss. He did not ask for permission, he simply forced his tongue in and she was swept away by his passion, his urgent need. She loved it.

But when he pulled away to place kisses on her throat, to nip at the delicate skin and leave marks there, a thought crept up and she had to ask: “How did you do that?”

“Woo you?”, Loki jested and hoisted her up by the back of her thighs, now pinning her against the door with his whole body, so she could feel his arousal against her middle, “You let me in.”

“No, the door.”, Sarah said, or at least she tried to, but it came out as a throaty moan when she felt Loki’s tongue trace the shell of her ear, “I-it was locked and i-it somehow u-unlocked. H-how?”

Abruptly, Loki stopped and looked her in the eye, his gaze calm, but intense, again with a cold fire raging in it. But his voice was smooth and amused when he retorted: “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

“Don’t you Shakespeare me!”, she laughed, but her breath hitched when Loki looked at her and asked, his voice low and hoarse, but a rumble going through her veins, “What else shall I do to you then?”

Sarah did not hesitate: “Make love to me.”

But she did not give him any chance either, she simply grabbed fists full of his hair and pulled Loki into a kiss, exploring and exploiting just the way he had done it before. The fact that his hold of her backside tightened made her chuckle as she realised that he liked it that way. Fine, he could have that.

With a growl, Loki bit her lower lip and pinned her against the door, his hard and throbbing length almost where she wanted it to be. Sarah moaned and instantly felt his lips, his tongue on her throat again.

Clever boy, he had turned the tables. But she loved to play, too.

She dug her heels into his back urged him closer and impatiently bucked her hips into him, producing by far not enough friction, but it was delicious all the same. And she giggled in triumph when she felt Loki’s breath hitch at the nape of her neck.

His fingers curled around her thighs, tightened their hold and Loki leaned back, just enough to look into her eyes, then he murmured: “This game is more fun with fewer clothes.”

Smiling, Sarah kicked off her shoes, letting them clutter to the floor behind his back, and then she ordered him: “Then strip.”

His eyes narrowed at her and she knew immediately that he did not like to be bossed around, but neither did she. So they would have to see wheth…

The thought disappeared when Loki crashed his lips to hers, his hands travelling upward over her sides until they closed above her breasts. Gosh, he had not even touched her properly before… and when he did now, parting her jacket and fondling her flesh through the layers of warm clothing, her mind went almost blank. Made Sarah wish she had not decided to wear pants tonight, but a skirt instead, and no underwear. Because then they could have just started right there.

“Shush, love.”, Loki purred near her ear, “Be patient.”

She had no idea how he had known about her thoughts, maybe they were obvious, but she snarled as a reply: “Enough games.”

With those words, she unhooked her legs and pushed him away. Startled and frowning, Loki stood there, but Sarah put her hands firmly onto his chest and gave him a good shove, made him stumble backwards. Fury was in his eyes, blazing and raging, cold but nevertheless smouldering. But Sarah merely smiled at him, then let her jacket fall to the floor. Her sweater followed, as did her shirt and her pants. Loki stayed right where he was, merely licked his lips, but once Sarah stood there, barefoot and in nothing more than her underwear and she reached behind her to unclasp the bra, he stopped her: “Allow me.”

“No.”, was her answer and it took him by surprise, she saw it in his eyes, how they grew wide, then narrowed, so she added, “Equal rights, honey. Strip.”

Slowly, he gave her a crooked grin for it, then he inclined his head in approval. His black coat was draped over her dresser and then he began to deliberately slowly unbutton the dark green dress shirt. Sarah found herself biting her lip as she watched him and that bastard knew just what an effect he was having on her, she saw it in his eyes, his lazy smile. When his shirt was unbuttoned halfway, he stopped suddenly, as if he had forgotten something and just remembered, then he took off his shoes, his socks and ever so slowly, as if they had all the time in the world, he then returned to the task of unbuttoning his shirt.

Sarah growled in her throat, but when he smiled at her, mockingly, that did it for her. With a feral growl she had not known she was capable off, Sarah pounced at him and ripped the shirt open, not caring in the slightest whether she damaged it in the process. She wanted him naked and she wanted him naked now. Right now.

She hooked one hand around his neck and pulled him to her height, kissing him hard, biting his lip, his tongue, but none of that stopped him.

On the contrary, Loki picked her up once again and went into the next room, straight for the dinner table. He sat her down on the edge of the table, then all but ripped the bra from her body and as soon as the bothersome piece of clothing was not in his way anymore, Loki’s lips made their way down Sarah’s throat, he licked over her collarbone and then went deeper until his mouth closed around one of her nipples. He then sucked, hard, and had Sarah crying out in an intoxicating mixture of surprise, pain and arousal.

When Sarah thought herself able to deal with that sensation, she raised a hand to comb her fingers through Loki’s hair, but he chose that very moment to press his thumb firmly against the bundle of nerves between Sarah’s legs, making her moan again, his name this time. As he heard that, Loki looked up, a smile on his lips, and without a word he tugged at her panties, so Sarah lifted her hips in anticipation.

She was not disappointed. Loki pressed a kiss to her lips, but when she tried to intensify it, he bit her to free himself, then took the same path downwards he had taken before, only this time he did not stop at her nipples longer than to give both of them a firm lick, then he descended over her stomach, to her navel.

His hands pushed her thighs open and with one hand in his hair, Sarah watched him, but her eyes fluttered shut with a moan when she felt his tongue between her legs. Firm at first, then gentle, she never knew what to expect and when his tongue entered her, she trembled, gasping. That sound turned into a desperate cry when Loki then sucked at her clitoris and it left her panting, her heart throbbing with need and hunger.

Quickly and gracefully, Loki got up in one swift motion, surprising Sarah as he was naked as well and already dressed for the occasion, not in clothes, but durex. He came prepared.

Sarah opened her mouth for a wry comment, but she did not get the chance. Loki grabbed her hips and with one slow, but powerful thrust, he was inside her. She clung to his shoulders as Loki eased her down onto the table, but she lost her grip on him when he began to move, his thrusts powerful, fast and hard, giving her no chance to react at all in her uncontrollable surge of desire. His hands held her tightly in place, as her hands dug into his shoulders and her heels into his back, urging each other on with kisses and bites. Sarah had no control over her body anymore and when she reached her climax far too quickly for her liking, she screamed it out. No man had ever done that to her.

She went limp, felt Loki double his efforts and then shuddering above her, in her, slowly exhaling a deep breath.

Without a word, he picked her up and walked, looking around, her body still limp in his arms until he laid her down onto her bed.

She sighed when she snuggled into the cool, soft material of her sheets, but it turned into a needy moan when she felt Loki’s hands on her back, drawing patterns, stroking over her skin down to her backside, up again over her sides to her shoulders, grazing her neck with his thumb. His lips between her shoulder blades made her arch into his caress even though Sarah had thought she did not have any strength left in her.

The mattress shifted under his weight as Loki lay down beside her, his hands still on her back… and then Sarah felt him press her body into the mattress with his weight. She did not even try to stifle the moan escaping her throat, he could hear it all.

He chuckled above her and it told her that he was intent on hearing all the sounds she had, so with a grin, Sarah decided to at least make it a challenge for him. But when one hand stroked down over her side and was then eased under her stomach, slowly yet determinedly travelling down between her legs, she admitted defeat with a low moan and arched her back against him to feel the skin on Loki’s chest, to feel his heartbeat against her back.

She bit her lip when she felt it, but then cried out as his fingers resumed caressing her between her legs, so skilfully, and at the same time he filled her again. The sensations were already too much, too good, but when Loki began to move, slowly this time, it was even better than before, infinitely better.

When bliss washed over her, she actually lost consciousness, she was sure of it, for when she opened her eyes again, she was lying on her back and Loki was beside her, smiling down on her, his hands travelling over her body, yet always stopping short of her breasts or her sex.

“Good to have you with me again.”, he teased and all Sarah could muster as a reply was an appreciative purr and she writhed under his touch, making her skin feel hot even though she lay naked in her bed.

“It’s your fault.”, Sarah retorted, “You’ve worn me out.”

“Already?”, Loki pouted in mock disappointment and she giggled, which earned her a grin, then he shifted, came closer until he was over her again, nestled in between her thighs, very much ready for another round. Her giggle turned into a moan because of that.

“You know…”, Loki murmured as he placed kisses onto her stomach and then went higher, cupping her breasts in his hands again, “You don’t have to be awake for this.”

Sarah laughed breathlessly and playfully flicked her hand against his shoulder which only made him chuckle and add: “But, admittedly, it would be more enjoyable if you were awake and participating. And eager.”

“I’m always eager.”, Sarah told him and then pulled him to her for a kiss.

“Good.”, Loki purred before they kissed, then neither of them spoke for a long while and after that, Sarah was too tired to talk at all.

She realised that sleep must have taken her because when she woke again, it was bright outside, morning already. And Loki was gone.

“Jerk.”, she mumbled into the silence of her bedroom, but when she looked down at the sheets, all rumpled and thoroughly used for once, Sarah smiled.

Until that smile fell from her face.

“Oh God…”, she muttered when it dawned on her.

“Shit.”, she added a curse and got to her feet, dressing quickly and cursing herself throughout the process of getting dressing, downing a coffee and getting to her car to drive herself to a hospital to find a doctor on New Year’s Day. Sure, she had checked if Loki had worn a condom the first time… but not any of the others.

Agitated, Sarah hoped he had been clean and that he had not…

 

Months later, Sarah knew that Loki, if that had been his name at all, had been clean. And fertile, because a baby was on the way.

She had cried when she had learned that, because she had no way of reaching him, no idea where he was from… nothing. Neither did she have a family in New York. Or any way to support the baby, really.

But she had never wanted to get rid of it, to her, the mere thought had felt wrong. So she had planned to give it up for adoption, but… when the baby had kicked her for the first time, she had known that she would not be able to do that, not without dying from a broken heart.

So she had tried to make due, had worked two jobs from time to time, had relied on her neighbour, an old army veteran who had his own grandchildren over from time to time.

And she had prevailed. Somehow, she had pulled through, had given birth to a beautifully baby girl and had raised her, somehow. And she had turned out alright so far. No, not alright, but wonderful.

“Happy birthday, honey.”, Sarah called to her daughter when she arrived home on Sophie’s ninth birthday, a warm day in October, full of sunshine and joy.

“Mommy!”, her daughter called out and ran to her, leaving her babysitter the old veteran Peter Hall in the middle of their afternoon cocoa.

“I love you so much, baby.”, Sarah said as she hugged her child and then led her back to the table, placing her present next to the cup.

“Alright, then, ladies, I will leave you to your festivities.”, her neighbour took his leave and at the door, Sarah called after him, “Thank you, Pete.”

“Don’t mention it, lady, I love your little girl as if she was mine own. Have a great party you two.”

“That we will.”, Sarah said and turned to her daughter, “You up for cake?”

“Yeah!”, Sophie cheered and so Sarah opened the fridge, took out the cake to cut a piece for each of them. But the long day caught up with her and her fingers slipped, lost grip of the platter.

“No!”, she began, but stopped dead when the platter hovered in midair. Then it slowly turned over, descended and gently sat down on the kitchen floor. Unharmed, unbroken. Just standing there.

“What the hell?”, Sarah mumbled and Sophie began to cry.

“Sorry, baby, I know I shouldn’t curse, but…”, Sarah began, but then stopped when she realised that Sophie’s crying was more than just her being upset.

“Baby, what is wrong?”, she asked, kneeling beside her daughter who had hid her face in her tiny, trembling hands, “You can tell me. What is it?”

“She has magic.”, someone said behind her and Sarah turned around with a gasp. Her jaw dropped when she recognised him: “Loki…”

He did not give her as much as a glance, but knelt down next to her, surprisingly gently prying Sophie’s hands form her face.

She turned away, but Loki asked her: “Look at me, child. I can help you with that, the strange occurrences around you.”

“Y-you can?”, Sophie whimpered in a whisper and Sarah watched, horrified from the revelation she had just understood. “How long has this been going on?”

“Months.”, Loki told her, without any emotion, but when he then glanced at her, there was fury in his eyes, cold and smothering as he accused her, “You never noticed.”

“I…”, she began defending herself, but then stopped. She had no idea what was going on, how should she have known or even understood the signs of it? She could not have and that was that.

But her heart bled as she looked at her daughter, whose eyes were puffy and red from crying, from carrying a secret she had not dared telling her.

“You, Sophie, are capable of doing magic.”, Loki told the little girl, all the while holding her tiny hands in his and she blinked, disbelieving, not comprehending. At least that was what Sarah had thought, but then her daughter said: “I know. I can make things vanish or come to me.”

“They don’t vanish, you make them invisible.”, Loki told her and when she very clearly wanted to object, he pointed to Sarah’s bracelet that then disappeared. But she could still feel the weight of it…

“Go one, little one.”, Loki told her, “It is still there.”

Sarah nodded and slowly, Sophie touched her mother’s wrist, felt the bracelet and gasped. Loki smiled at her and told her: “I will teach you. Others cannot know what you can do, they would hate you for it. And it helps you if they do not know about your powers.”

“Then they’ll think me weak.”, Sophie mumbled and Sarah wondered where on Earth her little girl had picked up on something like that, on having to keep secrets to protect herself.

“Drink your cocoa, then we will have our first lesson.”, Loki ordered and Sophie looked at Sarah, asking permission, asking whether this stranger could be trusted. Sarah had no idea, but she nodded nonetheless. If Sophie had magic, and clearly something was off, then she needed someone who was as… off as her. She knew that, felt that, but her reasonable mind refused to believe in magic. Even though she had seen it, she thought, as she glanced at her bracelet that was slowly becoming visible again as the magic wore off. Magic, for crying out loud.

“I need to talk to you.”, Loki growled lowly and Sarah nodded, but then stroked Sophie’s hair and told her, “Sit here, enjoy your cocoa. Mommy will talk to her friend and then come back to eat cake with you, alright?”

Sophie nodded, but she was not convinced that everything was alright. Smart kid, Sarah thought proudly. Then she served Sophie a piece of cake, even though Loki watched her with growing impatience and annoyance, but she took the time for her child and only then entered the next room with him.

“She is…”, Sarah began, but Loki interrupted, “My daughter, I know.”

Shocked, Sarah was silent for a moment, then she snarled: “And for how long have you known, exactly?”

“Moments.”, was his baffling answer, “I only realised when she worked magic just moments ago, I saw that by chance. Before that, I had never even thought she might exist.”

“That can happen when a man and a woman spend a night together, you know?”, Sarah shot at him and Loki sighed impatiently, “Are you done? Good. She is my daughter, that’s why she has magic in her. I will not walk away from the responsibility of teaching her. It would be best for her abilities if I took her to Asgard, but her magic has hidden her so far and they can never know she exists.”

“To…where now?”, Sarah asked, but then shook her head, “Forget it. You won’t get her.”

“I don’t want her.”, Loki said and Sarah gasped at the cruelty of his words. Because they were true, every bit of them.

“Fine.”, Sarah then snarled at him, “Tell me what you are going to do and we will arrange something.”

Loki raised an eyebrow at her, but before he could speak, Sarah cut him off: “She is my child. Don’t ever think I wouldn’t go to hell and beyond for her. If I am okay with what you plan, you can do it, if not, it’s off. You won’t ever see us again.”

Loki hissed at her, then stepped closer, invading her space and as much as that would have aroused her almost ten years before, now it was intimidating. But Sarah did not let that show, she lifted her chin defiantly and told him: “I know you don’t want her to be found because then your… indiscretion would be known. Fine, I can live with that, if and only if you meet my terms.”

His face was a grimace of rage, but Sarah added: “You want something from me, Loki. Don’t forget that.”

“I want to teach her magic for her own safety and yours and everyone’s around her.”

“Uh-huh.”, Sarah shrugged, “But if you don’t, because you’ll do it in a way I don’t think safe for Sophie, then you won’t get to do that. Then her abilities will show and then Asgard, whatever that’s supposed to be, will know. You don’t want that.”

“If I do not teach her, she will be a threat to herself and everyone around her.”, Loki snarled and Sarah nonchalantly shrugged, “Yeah, I gathered that. But she’s smart. She has hidden her… magic from me and from you for months now. She can figure it out on her own.”

Loki narrowed his eyes, then scoffed, “Fine. Have it your way. I will not teach her.”

“Yes you will.”, Sarah interrupted him, “And you will do so at my terms. Because it’s your responsibility. And because you don’t want her magic to be known. So make sure it isn’t. I have more pull right now.”

“I could kill you and take her.”, he threatened, but Sarah merely shrugged, “Yeah, you could, but you won’t. You said so yourself. So, go now, teach her, but make sure you treat her well.”

He scampered off with a curse spoken just under his breath, but Sarah smiled grimly. He would do as she had told him. Somewhere down the line, however, she knew that she would have to pay a price for today, but she was alright with that. If it meant that Sophie, her child, would be taught magic by her father and in a nice way at that, she was willing to endure his wrath. She had pulled through raising a child on her own, she was reasonable sure that there was nothing he could throw at her that she would not be able to handle.

So over the next months, she saw her daughter blossom, saw her gain new confidence with every magic trick she acquired. It frightened Sarah, she had to admit that, but she kept it from Sophie, she had to. It was hard, but she pulled through, again, for Sophie.

There were also happy moments, when Sarah got to watch Loki train their daughter in the magic the two of them shared. Those really were happy moments and the only thing unhappy about it was that Sarah could not join them in those moments, that she would forever be excluded from the connection they shared. But she smiled nonetheless, because despite his words, Loki wanted his daughter, she could see it.

What she could also see was that he had not had parents like the two of them were parents to Sophie. However dysfunctional this little not-quite-family of theirs was, Sarah knew without doubt that Loki had not even had that. Or at least he thought he had not. That was why he tried so hard to teach Sophie. And she was happy for her child, she only wished she could make him happy, too, but Sarah was not delusional. Loki was broken and she could see it. Only time would tell what that would drive him to do one day.

Frankly, Sarah knew that day would come…and she dreaded it.


End file.
